Metal additive manufacturing 3D printing is a process that constructs complicated parts straight from CAD files. Additive manufacturing has several advantages in terms of design and manufacturing practices.
Who Uses Additive Manufacturing 3D Printing?
Severalindustries are now using this innovative process, including medical, aerospace and infrastructure enterprises. Medical Devices & Surgery. This is a field where precision counts and the integrated AM process reduces errors and produces precise tools for technicians and surgeons. Aerospace & Infrastructure. Aerospace is another field that requires pinpoint precision to ensure the safety of crew members and passengers. The same concerns apply to infrastructure suppliers who hold the safety of occupants and travelers in their hands.
Design Considerations
This process requires a fresh way of thinking and allows designers to think far outside the box compared to the limitations of traditional manufacturing.
Think Fresh
Don’t allow your team to stay stuck in old design parameters. For instance, that old rocket injector design was probably restricted by the precision limits of the equipment originally used to produce it. What does 3D printing let you dream up that wasn’t possible before?
Choose Better Materials
Different printers work better with various materials. Using metal printers allows designers to create true-to-life prototypes that perform better under product testing and demonstrate realistic properties for a more effective revision process. Printing directly to metal makes the prototype a more effective indicator of functionality.
Design for Support
Metal additive manufacturing usually requires a support structure. This allows you to print overhangs, anchor parts to a print bed for a cleaner build and cut down any distortion.
Top Advantages of Additive Manufacturing 3D Printing
The top advantages of additive manufacturing include faster production cycles, easy access, improved quality and tangible design and test phases. Because parts are printed directly from a single file, there’s no need to create a complicated build plan. The technology has been around since 2010 and is now easily accessible for designers and manufacturers of custom or precision parts.
Because 3D printing simplifies the entire continuum of designing, testing and manufacturing parts, better quality can be achieved. Traditional manufacturing relied heavily on trial and error, which often led to part failures and cost overruns. Additive manufacturing eliminates many of the steps that left industries vulnerable to these negative impacts.
3D printing allows designers to create realistic prototypes. This tangible feature isn’t available on a two-dimensional computer screen no matter how fancy the CAD program is.
There are many reasons more manufacturers are turning to additive manufacturing and 3D printing to give them an advantage over traditional methods and help them bring products to market faster.